It's more than what's on the surfaceAfter reading "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" for the first time d 'Ernest Hemingway, on the surface it seems simple, detached, cold and there is not much action in the story. But once you read the story and love it, you realize that it has heart and soul and a very touching emotional meaning. Ernest Hemingway's expression in the story takes his audience into a world of darkness and loneliness, but in reality he conveys what life, human nature and the need for human interaction really is. One of the premises of the story surrounds an old man. and an older waiter who works at the very clean and spotless cafe. These men consider the well-lit café as a refuge or a sort of sanctuary, to escape their fears and other insecurities. “You don’t understand. It's a clean and pleasant cafe. It's well lit. The light is very good and also, now, there are leaf shadows” (Hemingway). These two men share a lot in common: emptiness, complete isolation, despair and the fear of being "nada" nothingness. As they travel to this safe place each day, it is only a brief moment of happiness that this cafe offers them. “The concepts of refuge and secure base form an elegant partnership; secure attachment and not only provides a feeling of emotional connection, but also promotes individual autonomy by encouraging Chism 2 to explore the big world” (Coping with Depression 65). It's a mask to hide what's really going on in their lives, if only for a fleeting moment. This place of solace only gives them momentary happiness and cannot overcome the despair and sadness they have middle of paper......ng. The old man is full of life when he is at the café and he believes this because of the well-kept condition and the lights of the café that so often attract him to this place to work. The story tells the audience what the ambiance of the cafe is like, mentioned several times in the story “the old man sitting in the shade of the leaves of the tree”. (Hemingway). Again, this is a demonstration of the loneliness the old man suffers from and his desire to be at the café to have human interaction. Hemingway gives readers very little or nothing "nada" to understand what the characters actually feel and an approach to follow. into their world and experience the raw emotions and feelings they experience. Whether you love or hate the story, you feel a sense of pity for the old man and the older waiter, and by the end you can feel their utter loneliness..